Joaquin Phoenix has been a working actor for more than 30 years. He’s starting to have fun again.
His thespian rejuvenation was evident last year in Spike Jonze’s Her and this year in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice.

The Immigrant
Three stars out of five
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix
Directed by: James Gray
Running time: 120 minutes
The frames have the brownish, ominous tint of old blood.

Marquee:
Her: Four stars out of five — Pushing the entire concept of social media to absurd dimensions, Spike Jonze writes and directs this beautifully subtle study of an ordinary man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with his newly installed operating system.

The Oscars are here once again, and if recent history proves anything it’s that the three-hour-plus telecast won’t be nearly as controversial — or entertaining — as it was back in the day when a streaker flashed David Niven and ran across the stage naked, Marlon Brando sent civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather to accept the Oscar on his behalf, Vanessa Redgrave popped off about Palestine and “Zionist hoodlums” to a chorus of boos, and Richard Gere popped off about Tibet to gasps of dismay, followed by uncomfortable silence.

Best Picture
The nominees: Argo, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Amour, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Will win: Argo, which has overtaken Lincoln as the favourite and been sweeping up the hardware — BAFTA (the British Academy awards), the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild, Screen Actors Guild and more.